Emergency firearm

ABSTRACT

A SURVIVAL FIREARM IS SPEARABLE INTO STOCK, BREECHBLOCK AND BARREL-RECEIVER UNITS. TO ASSEMBLE THE FIREARM THE BREECHBLOCK IS SECURED WITHIN THE RECEIVER BY LUG AND GROOVE MEANS AND IS RELEASABLY SECURED AGAINST UNLOCKING ROTATION BY THE PIN THAT PIVOTALLY MOUNTS THE TRIGGER AND SEAR IN THE BREECHBLOCK. A BOLT SECURES THE STOCK TO THE BREECHBLOCK.

March 9, 1971 s. D. SILSBY EMERGENCY FIREARM 5 Shoots-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 17, 1968 INVENTOR Elinrflgy uflflshy March 9, 1971 s. o. SILSBY 3,553,350

EMERGENCY FIREARM Filed Dec. 17, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQR March 9, 1971 s. o. SILSBY EMERGENCY FIREARM Filed Dec. 17, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 3,568,350 EMERGENCY FIREARM Stanley D. Silsby, Granby, Mass., assignor t0 the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Arm y Filed Dec. 17, 1968, Ser. No. 784,397

Int. Cl. F41c 7/06, 7/10, 23/00 U.S. C]. 42-75 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A survival firearm is separable into stock, breechblock and barrel-receiver units. To assemble the firearm the breechblock is secured within the receiver by lug and groove means and is releasably secured against unlocking rotation by the pin that pivotally mounts the trigger and sear in the breechblock. A bolt secures the stock to the breechblock.

The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and licensed by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

Most helicopters with offensive capabilities are armed with launchers for automatically firing 40 mm. grenade rounds such as the M384. These rounds have high velocity characteristics with long-range capabilities and consequently produce high recoil forces. They also require considerable energy to ignite the primer. Consequently, because of these problems it has not been possible to utilize the grenade rounds in hand held firearms and therefore, although helicopters when shot down may have on board a large supply of these grenade rounds, they cannot be used by the crash survivors for defensive or offensive purposes when away from the launchers in the downed aircraft.

The problem of the excessive velocity and recoil forces has been successfully resolved by my inventiop which is the subject of my co-pending application entitled Emergency Weapon for Firing High Velocity Grenade Rounds Ser. No. 873,426, filed Nov. 3, 196 9, and in my co-pending application entitled Emergency Weapon Firing Mechanism for High Velocity Grenade Rounds Ser. No. 781,738, filed Dec. 6, 1968, there is disclosed a firing mechanism which automatically produces sufficient energy to ignite the primers of the grenade rounds and is easily loaded and tired.

It is a principal object of this invention to incorporate the inventions disclosed in my other two co-pending applications in a firearm which can be disassembled and carried in a small package and which can be quickly and easily assembled with a minimum of mounting elements required.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a firearm which can be disassembled into stock, breechblock and barrel-receiver units and which utilizes the breechblock to join the stock and barrel-receiver units together.

It is still another object of this invention to provide such a firearm in which the breechblock is assembled within the receiver by cooperating lug and groove means with the pin for pivotally mounting the trigger and sear of the firing mechanism in the breechblock used to prevent relative rotation of the breechblock and receiver after assembly.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means for assembling firearms of a wider utility, which is distinguished by having all the operating mechanisms of a firearm contained within a replaceable breechblock so that the firearm can be quickly and easily repaired by replacement thereof.

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Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specifications and the accompanying drawings which are for the purpose of illustration only and in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, partially cross-sectioned View of the firearm;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the breechblock rotated to a position for assembly to or disassembly from the receiver;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the breechblock rotated to a position for assembly to or disassembly from the receiver;

FIG. 7 is a view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the firearm.

Shown in the figures is a firearm 12 which comprises a stock 14 and a barrel-receiver assembly 16 which are held together by a breechblock 18. Stock 14 includes a shank 20 which is terminated at the rear end by a shoulder fitting butt portion 22, and a depending piston grip portion 24. A trigger guard 26 is pivotally mounted to the upper portion of pistol grip portion 24 which is provided with a recess 28 into which the trigger guard can be folded.

A bore 30 extends axially through stock 14 for receiving a bolt 32 and is counterbored at 34 from the read end to form a shoulder 36 which is acted upon by head 38 of the bolt, when tightened, through a protective Washer 39.

Barrel-receiver assembly 16 includes an essentially tubular receiver 40 having a forwardly projecting shelf 42 to which barrel 44 is pivotally mounted at 46 so as to be pivotal between a closed firing position and an open loading position. Pivotal mount 46 is located on barrel 44 forward of the breech end thereof so that when the barrel is swung open the breech end is elevated from shelf 42 for easy loading. Barrel 44 is releasably held in the closed position by a latch 48 which is mounted for longitudinal displacement in the upper portion of receiver 40 so as to be slidable over the top of the barrel, as shown in FIG. 1, to block displacement thereof from the closed position.

Breechblock 18 is cylindrical in configuration and slid ingly fits within receiver 40 from the rear end thereof, as hereinafter described. Breechblock 18 mounts firing mechanism 50 which is fully described in my co-pending application for Emergency Weapon Firing Mechanism for High Velocity Grenade Rounds Ser. No. 781,738, filed Dec. 6, 1968. Such firing mechanism 50 includes a trigger 52 and a sear 54 which are both pivotally mounted on a transverse pin 56, and a firing pin 58. A lever 64 slidingly disposed in breechblock 18 is arranged when pulled rearwardly to cock firing pin 58 by means of a depending lug 66 on the lever and to withdraw latch 48 from its locking position over barrel 44 by means of an upwardly extending tang 68. Manual retraction of lever 64 is provided by a handle 70 which extends upwardly from breechblock 18.

Cooperating lugs 72 on breechblock 18 and annular groove 74 within receiver 40 releasably secure the breechblock against longitudinal displacement therein when the lugs are received by the annular groove. To engage lugs 72 with groove 74, breechblock 18 is slid forwardly into receiver 40, rotated from its normal assembled position, as shown in FIG. 5, to where lugs 72 align with longitudinal channels 73 leading into groove 74 to permit passage of the lugs thereinto. Breechblock 18 is then rotated to its assembled position so that the lugs 72 are located within the uninterrupted portions of groove 74. Breechblock 18 is secured against rotation, once installed by pin 56 which is provided with a circular flange 76 and a stud 78 extending therefrom and which is biased outwardly by a spring 80 which presses against the flange so that the stud is pressed outwardly from breechblock 18 into a mating hole 82 in receiver 40, as shown in FIG. 2. Hole 82 extends all the way through the wall of receiver so that stud 78 can be pressed inwardly clear of the hole by insertion of any available pointed object thereinto from outside the receiver to free breechblock 18 for removal from the receiver.

When breechblock 18 is slid into receiver 40 trigger 52 moves into an accommodating slot 88, handle into slot and tang '68 into channel 92, all of which are formed in the receiver. Slots 88 and 90 and channel 92 are formed, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 7, to permit locking and unlocking rotation of breechblock 18 relative to receiver 40.

Extending rearwardly from breechblock 1 8 is a dowel portion 94 which is receivable by a counterbore 95 formed at the front end of bore 30 in stock 14 when the stock is assembled to barrel-receiver assembly 16. Dowel portion 94 is provided with an axial, threaded bore 96 which is threadingly engaged by bolt 32 so that when the bolt is tightened head 38 presses washer 39 against shoulder 36 and stock 14 is held thereby to barrel-receiver assembly 16.

When barrel-receiver assembly 16 is secured to stock 14, trigger guard 26 is swung out of recess 28 and is secured in position, surrounding the finger piece of trigger 52, through the cooperation of catch 98 thereon with lip 100 on receiver 40, as shown in FIG. 1. Firearm 12, of course, can be disassembled by the reversal of the above described steps.

Thus, there is provided hereby a firearm for emergency use which can be easily carried disassembled in a small package and which is easily assembled with a minimum of mounting elements required. For convenience and quick assembly, the breechblock can be carried already assem- 'bled to stock 14. Also, firearm 12 is distinguished by having all of its operating mechanisms contained in the breechblock unit so that the firearm is easily repaired merely by replacement of this unit.

I claim:

1. A survival type hand held firearm including a stock, a receiver, a breechblock, means for releasably securing said breechblock against relative displacement within said 4 receiver, and screw means for releasably connecting said stock to said breechblock.

2. The firearm as defined in claim 1 wherein said breechblock includes a firing mechanism comprising a trigger with a finger piece, and a pin for pivotally mounting said trigger in said breechblock, and said means for securing said breechblock in said receiver includes said pin, cooperating l-ug and groove means on said breechblock and in said receiver for preventing relative longitudinal displacement thereof when said lug and groove means are in engaged relationship, and means cooperating with said pin for preventing relative rotational displacement of said breechblock and said receiver when said lug and groove means are in engaged relationship.

3. The firearm as defined in claim 2 wherein said pin includes a terminal stud and a flange, and said means cooperating with said pin include a hole through said receiver for matingly receiving said stud when said lug and groove means are in engaged relationship and a spring pressed against said flange for biasing said stud into said hole.

4. The firearm as defined in claim 2 wherein said breechblock includes a dowel portion extending rearwardly therefrom, said stock includes a bore for receiving said screw means and a counterbore for receiving said dowel, and said breechblock includes a threaded bore in said dowel portion for threadingly engaging said screw means.

5. The firearm as defined in claim 2 wherein said stock includes a pistol grip portion, a trigger guard pivotally mounted on said pistol grip portion, a recess in said pistol grip for receiving said trigger guard when folded, and a catch portion of said trigger guard engageable with a cooperating lip on said receiver for releasably securing said trigger guard in a position surrounding said finger piece.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1881 Watkeys 42-40 5/1903 Reifgraber 4275.3

US. Cl. X.R. 4240 

